This book shifts analytical focus from macro-politicization and securitization of Islam to Muslims' choices, practices and public expressions of faith. An empirically rich analysis, the book provides rich cross-country evidence on the emergence of autonomous faith communities as well as the evolution of Islam in the broader European context.

AcknowledgmentsNotes on ContributorsIntroduction: Nation, State and Faith in the Post-Communist Era; Arolda ElbasaniPART I: THE PREVAILING PUBLIC DISCOURSE ON ISLAM1. Islam and Orientalism in Contemporary Albania; Enis Sulstarova 2. Anti-Islamic Public Discourse in Contemporary Greece: The Reproduction of Religious Panic; Alexandros Sakellariou 3. Faith and Politics in Kosovo: The Status of Religious Communities in a Secular Country; Jeton Mehmeti PART II: MUSLIMS ' ' PURSUIT OF FAITH AND RELIGIOSITY 4. The Loudspeaker of Faith in the ' 'Calm ' ' City: Islam and Urban Diversity in the Contemporary Balkans; Jelena Toši? 5. Muslim Women ' 's Dress Practices in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Localising Islam through Everyday Lived Practice; Andreja Mesari?6. The Multiple Voices of Bulgaria ' 's Unofficial Islamic Leaders; Laura J. Olson7. Love and Boundaries: Inter-Faith and Inter-Ethnic Relationships Among Macedonian-Speaking Muslims; Anna Zadro?na8.' 'Holiness ' ' Constructed: Anonymous Saints in the Popular Traditions of Muslim Roma Communities in the Balkans; Ksenia TrofimovaPART III: RELIGIOUS BELIEFS, PUBLIC ARGUMENTS AND LEGITIMACY 9. Rhetorical Strategies of Kosovo ' 's Imams in the Fight for ' 'Women ' 's Rights ' '; Behar Sadriu 10. Public Expressions of Bosnian Muslim Religiosity and Lived Faith: The Cases of Friday Prayer and the Hijab; Julianne Funk 11. Faith, Fatherland, or Both? Accommodationist and Neo-Fundamentalist Islamic Discourses in Albania; Cecilie EndresenConclusions; Olivier Roy Index

“The Revival of Islam in the Balkans is a timely addition to the literature with its rich insights and innovative, path-breaking studies. … the book is a must-read, and the exceptional editorial work makes it even more appealing and easy to follow. There is no doubt that this book will be a useful reference work on Islam and Islamic practices in general, and on the Balkans in particular.” (Nikos Christofis, LSE Review of Books, blogs.lse.ac.uk, April, 2016)“The book under review The Revival of Islam in the Balkans is thus a welcome exposition of a much neglected subject. … It will appeal principally to academics and tertiary students, especially those with an interest in anthropology, Eastern Europe, and religion.” (Abdullah Drury, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, March, 2016)“The Revival of Islam in the Balkans … offers further analysis of religious changes in the Balkans after communism. These particular studies represent valuable contributions to the subject due to their thorough identification and evaluation of crucial elements that have influenced the contemporary religious scene in the Balkans. … This volume demonstrates that local Muslim communities have not only been able to reject foreign influences, but also to construct new methods to theoretically and practically defend their traditional practice.” (Hazim Fazlić, Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, Vol. 36 (1), 2016)“The Elbasani and Roy volume focuses on the eastern Balkans, excluding the western states of former Yugoslavia, ascribing a special importance to Kosovo and Albania while also making room for Greece and Bulgaria. … Elbasani-Roy contributors target an audience interested in the region’s eastern section.” (Vjekoslav Perica, Slavic Review, 2016)“These eight case studies are valuable contributions to a better understanding of Islam in the Balkans. From this standpoint, the editors of The Revival of Islam in the Balkans have succeeded in their bid to show the ‘emerging mosaic of Islamic religiosity, defined here as the way an individual believer experiences his or her relation to religion and faith’ … and this makes the book an important one.” (Xavier Bougarel, Suedosteuropa. Journal of Politics and Society, Issue 3, 2016)“This is a timely collection of essays in that it addresses what has been the major obstacle to the study of post-communist Islam in the Balkans … . the book offers empirically rich chapters looking at the multivocality of actors speaking for Islam in the Balkans today. … this volume is a milestone for developing robust comparisons of divergent socialist and post-socialist trajectories of Islam in the Balkans for years to come.” (David Henig, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 68 (8), 2016)

'The editors of this timely addition to the scholarship are to be commended for bringing together such a stellar example of the cutting-edge research the study of Islam in the Balkans requires in this era of rapidly changing conditions for Muslims and their fellow countrymen. In eleven well-crafted studies on various themes related to the rapidly changing dynamics within Muslim communities in the Balkans, the reader is offered access to the state-of-the-art scholarship on Islam. The particularly close focus on hitherto ignored actors in the forging of new kinds of Muslim communities in face of hostility from the larger world is especially welcome considering these will be the likely agents for positive co-habitation and trust-building measures in the future. It is especially commendable that the editors invited scholars wishing to shed further light on how Muslim women in particular try to strengthen their role in shaping the future of their communities. The fact that such efforts arecomplicated by the often confused debates about the ethno-national and/or universalist character of Albanian, Roma, Bosnian, and Bulgarian Muslim existence in their homelands promises to positively inform scholars for years to come on how to best disentangle the study of religiosity in the Balkans from the crude references made to the larger 'war on terror.' The Revival of Islam in the Balkans is highly recommended as both a resource for specialists in the study of Islam-in-the-Balkans and a valuable tool to introduce to graduate students.' Dr. Isa Blumi, Associate Professor of History, Georgia State University, USA'This volume offers rich empirical insights into the diverse forms of lived religiosity amongst Balkan Muslims, convincingly arguing for a paradigm shift that decouples religion from the ethno-national grids of identity and focuses instead on the individual re-imaginations and personalized practices emerging outside the institutional control of official government-sponsored orthodoxies inherited from socialism. This is an exciting contribution to the field and compulsory reading for those interested in Balkan Islam and contemporary religious change in the post-socialist world.' Ger Duijzings, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Regensburg, Germany

'The editors of this timely addition to the scholarship are to be commended for bringing together such a stellar example of the cutting-edge research the study of Islam in the Balkans requires in this era of rapidly changing conditions for Muslims and their fellow countrymen. In eleven well-crafted studies on various themes related to the rapidly changing dynamics within Muslim communities in the Balkans, the reader is offered access to the state-of-the-art scholarship on Islam. The particularly close focus on hitherto ignored actors in the forging of new kinds of Muslim communities in face of hostility from the larger world is especially welcome considering these will be the likely agents for positive co-habitation and trust-building measures in the future. It is especially commendable that the editors invited scholars wishing to shed further light on how Muslim women in particular try to strengthen their role in shaping the future of their communities. The fact that such efforts are complicated by the often confused debates about the ethno-national and/or universalist character of Albanian, Roma, Bosnian, and Bulgarian Muslim existence in their homelands promises to positively inform scholars for years to come on how to best disentangle the study of religiosity in the Balkans from the crude references made to the larger 'war on terror.' The Revival of Islam in the Balkans is highly recommended as both a resource for specialists in the study of Islam-in-the-Balkans and a valuable tool to introduce to graduate students.' Dr. Isa Blumi, Associate Professor of History, Georgia State University, USA 'This volume offers rich empirical insights into the diverse forms of lived religiosity amongst Balkan Muslims, convincingly arguing for a paradigm shift that decouples religion from the ethno-national grids of identity and focuses instead on the individual re-imaginations and personalized practices emerging outside the institutional control of official government-sponsored orthodoxies inherited from socialism. This is an exciting contribution to the field and compulsory reading for those interested in Balkan Islam and contemporary religious change in the post-socialist world.' Ger Duijzings, Professor of Social Anthropology, University of Regensburg, Germany